A Brief History On December 25, 2009, one of the most bizarre terrorist plots to destroy an airliner and its passengers failed when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was unable to get his bomb hidden in his underwear to explode. Digging Deeper The 23 year old Nigerian man was educated at the University College in London, England and had earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2008. He attempted to further his education with classes toward a Master’s degree at Wollongong University in Dubai. Unfortunately, this son of one of the richest men in Nigeria squandered his education by becoming a radicalized…
Browsing: December 25
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A Brief History On December 25, 1868, much maligned and embattled President of the United States Andrew Johnson issued a blanket pardon for all Confederate veterans of the US Civil War. Digging Deeper A Southerner himself, Johnson had been born in North Carolina and lived in Tennessee where he served as Governor and US Senator before becoming Abraham Lincoln’s vice-president in the 1864 election. When Lincoln was killed and Johnson assumed the presidency in 1865, the Civil War was now over and Johnson was eager to get the South back into normal operation, allowing the former Confederate States to hold…
A Brief History For starters, if you have never heard of the Christmas Pickle, do not feel bad! The author herself only learned of the Christmas Pickle two years ago while she was living in Germany and was being visited by a fellow American who brought up the topic. The friend hung a pickle-shaped ornament on her Christmas tree every year, and since she believed the tradition came from Germany, wanted to know more about it. Digging Deeper Various American Christmas traditions include: singing carols; hanging stockings over the fireplace; leaving cookies out for Santa; placing mistletoe over doorways; but some Americans apparently also hang an…
A Brief History On December 25, 1826, cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point cracked the annals of history with an Eggnog Riot! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find the long gray line of cadets leading their disciplined life of study in a controlled environment with distractions like alcoholic beverages prohibited. Fighting, gambling, cursing, all the things young men pursue with gusto at other colleges were forbidden there, even back then. Boys being boys, soldiers being soldiers, the cadets were upset to be strictly limited to non-alcoholic eggnog for their Christmas party, and of course they decided…